Secrets of the Job Hunt

Thursday, September 22, 2005

Kevin Wheeler, a recruiting industry executive wrote an article yesterday that jobseekers may want to read. He says job boards are becoming less of a factor and only niche boards will endure. I basically agree with this premise. The "big 3" job boards -- Monster, HotJobs and CareerBuilder are the sites he's talking about and their usefulness in the average job search is not what it used to be. Today's job seeker needs to leverage networking tools like linkedin.com as well as finding the right niche/local job boards to use.

HERE"S WHAT HE SAYS"Clearly the bloom is off job boards. Postings are going down and recruiters are disenchanted with the quality of candidates. Simply amassing lots of candidates and jobs does not really deliver value. A recruiter remains the primary screener, and workloads go up, not down.

More sophisticated use of the Internet and a variety of tool have made referrals the future of sourcing. New companies such as Jobster, H3, and JobThread have changed the landscape. John Sumser had a good article comparing H3 to Jobster in his Electronic Recruiting News recently.

We are finding that younger candidates — the Generation Yers — do everything through leveraging their networks. They are always connected, either through their mobile phones, text messaging, instant messaging, blogging, or simply by using email. They find information, look for employment, discuss national issues, compare professors, and arrange dates by using their web of friends.

Job board popularity peaked a couple of years ago and only niche boards will endure. General boards like Monster will offer employers private-labeled job boards and add services such as advanced screening in order to survive. Just as the Internet and the economy of 2002 for the most part killed the job fair — leaving only a few trade-specific, diversity, or college job fairs — the same pressures will act on job boards.

The new breed of recruiter relies on technology to build and tap into networks."